April 6 (Reuters) - Canada’s Mandalay Resources said Dowa Metals and Mining , the main customer for its Chile-based mine’s silver-gold concentrate, is soon expected to lift its force majeure on shipments, following last month’s earthquake in Japan.

Japan’s Dowa has confirmed that equipment and facilities at its Kosaka smelter are in sound conditions and operations resumed on Tuesday, Mandalay said in a statement.

Mandalay has continued normal mining operations at its Cerro Bayo silver-gold mine in Patagonia, Chile, and stockpiled gold and silver concentrate in anticipation of the force majeure being lifted, it said.

On Mar.16, Toronto-based Manadalay had announced the force majeure suspension of Cerro Bayo’s sales contract as a result of damage suffered to infrastructure and power at Dowa’s Akita refinery in the Japanese earthquake and Tsunami.

Shares of Mandalay closed down at 59 Canadian cents on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Gowri Jayakumar in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)